I should hate this movie. I should loathe this movie to my very core. I'm one of the few people on Earth who hates Will Ferrell and his obnoxiously idiotic brand of 'comedy', for crying out loud, and yet I just cannot bring myself to say that I even dislike this movie. In fact, I kind of...love it?
Listen, it's no cinematic achievement- not by a longshot- but Diedrich Bader and Chris Parnell's commitment to the bit is admirable, even if the both of them would probably prefer it if we were to forget about this little stain on their respective filmographies. There's something oddly winning about My-ik and Du-ug, from their desire to clog their pores with concealer to their complete inability to inflict an agonising death on one insolent b*st*rd of a cow, and it's mostly their oddly winning nature that does wonders for a script that is oftentimes more beer commercial than sci-fi comedy.
Throughout my entire viewing experience, I found myself wondering why on Earth such a ridiculously stupid film was making me laugh so frequently and sincerely, and on reflection, it's probably down to the number of genuinely funny jokes to be found beneath this B-movie's veneer of overwhelming stupidity. Gags about the titular evil alien conquerors feeling incredibly sexy in bathrobes or being unable to resist developing a drinking problem despite it not being one of their objectives never failed to make me giggle, and the fact that a film this sophomoric manages to wring most of its comedy out of its main characters' sheer incompetence rather than simply resorting to sexist or homophobic humour is honestly an unexpected bonus. Going into this, I expected something akin to Anchorman or a lesser SNL sketch; instead I got an unapologetically goofy and oftentimes delightful riff on slacker comedies and 80s schlock sci-fi alike.
Ultimately, I'd like to think that Chris Matheson would almost certainly die painlessly for producing such a ridiculous but legitimately entertaining film, one that is not nearly on the same level as the excellent Bill and Ted movies, but has enough self-awareness and cheesy charm to still be worth a look.
Listen, it's no cinematic achievement- not by a longshot- but Diedrich Bader and Chris Parnell's commitment to the bit is admirable, even if the both of them would probably prefer it if we were to forget about this little stain on their respective filmographies. There's something oddly winning about My-ik and Du-ug, from their desire to clog their pores with concealer to their complete inability to inflict an agonising death on one insolent b*st*rd of a cow, and it's mostly their oddly winning nature that does wonders for a script that is oftentimes more beer commercial than sci-fi comedy.
Throughout my entire viewing experience, I found myself wondering why on Earth such a ridiculously stupid film was making me laugh so frequently and sincerely, and on reflection, it's probably down to the number of genuinely funny jokes to be found beneath this B-movie's veneer of overwhelming stupidity. Gags about the titular evil alien conquerors feeling incredibly sexy in bathrobes or being unable to resist developing a drinking problem despite it not being one of their objectives never failed to make me giggle, and the fact that a film this sophomoric manages to wring most of its comedy out of its main characters' sheer incompetence rather than simply resorting to sexist or homophobic humour is honestly an unexpected bonus. Going into this, I expected something akin to Anchorman or a lesser SNL sketch; instead I got an unapologetically goofy and oftentimes delightful riff on slacker comedies and 80s schlock sci-fi alike.
Ultimately, I'd like to think that Chris Matheson would almost certainly die painlessly for producing such a ridiculous but legitimately entertaining film, one that is not nearly on the same level as the excellent Bill and Ted movies, but has enough self-awareness and cheesy charm to still be worth a look.